Pre-departure post

Leaving for Manila in less than 19 hours. Been good today: packed my luggage, maintained kitchen cleanliness, pored through the poems in Blueline for inclusion in the Marginalia section of Niederngasse... and yes, finally finished revising my AV&E poems.

List of recent ayes and nays:

• Acceptance notes: The Aurora Review wants three poems and Pemmican has scheduled my poem, Hot tubs for their Spring 2006 issue.

• Rejections received: ForPoetry.com (nicely apologetic), Hanging Loose (form letter) and The North (handwritten note, see below):

Dear Arlene Ang
So sorry to take so long & in the end not to take any poems from your Sept submission. We were tempted by 'The 34th Secret Love Poem' -- which ACUMEN or ORBIS magazines might take?
All good wishes

I know I've said it already, but let me say it again: the Brits send the most heart-warming rejection slips. I hoard these personal notes more than love letters. They also have, more or less, the same handwriting... which makes me feel as if I'm dealing with only one person -- all these years -- secret-admirer-wise. Hee.

• Update on language skills of my 10-month-old niece: Ma, Pa and Eeeeeeeyoooouuuaaaaaah. Very verbal, in fine contrast to all the bouncing puppies I've raised in my life. Teeehee.

Underground Window issue

The November 2005 issue of Underground Window is now online with poetry by Emily Waples, Ann Berkman, Joseph Armstead, Harold Lorin, Bruce Milne, Simon Perchik, Carol Carpenter, Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti, Ana Monnar, Evan Saltmarsh, Jeanpaul Ferro and this frisky old goat. The poems are terrific; it's great just to be part of the gang!


Rejection slip from Red China Magazine last night -- which isn't bad. They replied (within 6 weeks)... which is already something. Yay!

Still mincing my list poems and making some nice pies. Creative part of brain no longer active...

probably the result of sniffing too much degreasers, calcium-deposit sprays, detergents and ethyl alcohol. Went on withdrawal this morning and ended up on my hands and knees to clean the kitchen.

Fellow came to check the boiler afterwards and approved (silently) of our decorous disorder. Heh!

Slashing away

at all my list poems...
rather slow with the job. Brain still not working properly.

Have linked to Shanna Germain who's quite an inspiring writer and poet. I love her introductory page, too -- she just says it ALL!!! I'm stuck in bad muse days. And check the chestnuts in the kitchen a zillion times for new worm excavations. Four came out and plopped at the bottom of *my* salad bowl -- I'm never eating in that again. We've also got a wasp in the terrace... which my don-quixote husband attacked with degreasing liquid. Hee. Then I read about Nicole having a vacuum war with ladybugs. Eeek. Someone tell me this is only an autumnal interlude.

Unlikely 2.0 accepted three poems:

To Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room with the Wrench
A Kind of Tomorrow
Like Electricity

for their January 3rd 2006 issue. As the name suggests, they are crazy about bizarre stuff... like some little birdy's rules poems. **hinthint**

Recent whereabouts (mine):

Took Pietro, my NG co-editor vacationing in Venice this week, to Burano yesterday. Just *adore* that city! He was impressed with it, too.

Staying in because I've got the cleaning lady and my parents-in-law's pooch. I have asked the former to direct her energies (and the degreaser's nozzle) to the kitchen. And so, all my pans (slightly dented) and dinner plates (cold) are on the bed this morning. Is that indicative of sex life in the bedroom while one's spouse is away? Hee. As opposed to my Sims who are having babies with different people in the neighborhood. Virtual people *do* have more fun.

List of recent woes and woohoos:

• Rejections received: Half Drunk Muse (nicely apologetic) and Strange Horizons (form letter).

• Acceptance received: ANON. Yay! I had labelled this as a lost-cause submission, but sent some work for purely masochistic reasons. It's a very classy print magazine with a rather long waiting period (3 months and up). Payment is one copy -- this isn't indicated on the website.

• Publication received: Shearsman. Very elegant and glossy!

• Announcement received: I'm a finalist (out of nearly 150 nominated) in The 2005 Robert Graves Award!! Yay!

Feeling cheeky pink today...

after a good night's rest on my new goosedown pillow -- which emits a nice fowl odor... which, in turn, probably induced my dream about Tutankhamen's cat (black and modestly loquacious).

Perigee 10th issue released... and woohoooo!

The new issue of Perigee is now available online. The poetry section, in particular, includes works by William L Alton, Beau Boudreaux, Dion Farquhar, Maria Halovanic, Paul Hostovsky, Andrew Kortz, Josef Lesser, Amy Letter, Mike Marks, Ben Mason, Christopher Middleman, Charles Rafferty, Aline Soules, Len Sousa, Lucas Stangl, Kyle David Torke, Stephen S Whitaker and yours truly.

Have been terribly baaaaaad about my writing and other social activities.

Catching up a bit with correspondences today. Still having a hard time getting out of this autumnal slump... my old muse, I presume since she never showed up, was nabbed by a myopic dog-catcher some time last week. I'm still waiting for a replacement. Hopefully, someone younger... more businesslike, less prone to obsessive-compulsive behavior, preferably with no sense of the meaning of household dirt.

Anyway, wooooohooooo!!! Received an acceptance note from Lorraine and James, a very classy, California-based print magazine! Talking of short-sightedness, they have accepted a recent poem, On Waking up to Ashbery Without My Reading Glasses. It was such a surprise -- Lorraine and James is, so far, the most high-paying market I've managed to get into (i.e. higher than The Pedestal). Never imagined for a moment... and the editor replied in 1 day. I'm soooo thrilled about it!

Let's hope this prods me out of my hibernation. Sigh.

Don't you just love the sound...

of your vacuum in the morning -- especially when you're not the one holding it?!! *She* has arrived and I've been moved again in the room (together with the flatware rack, wine bottles and yesterday's trash).

Woke up at 7.45 to put the house in order... or as my husband, ever observant and kind, snickered lovingly: You and your moveable litter! On his way out, I gushed adoringly: Honey, don't forget to take your relatives [the garbage] with you. I should consider my prospects as a baglady. Pooh.


Will try to write something today... or begin revising the A,V & E poems. Sighsighsigh!!! Still terribly distracted by dirt and feeling rather antsy. Managed to put way two paperbags of herbal medicines yesterday, but still have two boxes left hanging around. What to do, what to do.

I'm rather tempted to guzzle everything so as to have a reason for throwing them away. Have been reading Hercule Poirot again -- who calms me down with his wonderful discourses about order and method. Hah!

A note from Diagram today that, more or less, says:

Off the wagon again and aching

Have left the p-a-d again to pursue... more household chores. Since the cleaning lady's arrival I have more cleaning duties than in the past. There is simply no justice in life.


Was supposed to search for the vacuum in our "closet of abandoned things" today and also make an inventory of more than 100 bottles of herbal medicine, but had another tough case of migraine. Boohoo! Couldn't even smell food without retching.

Clean Sheets poems

An erotica magazine, Clean Sheets published my three poems today:

In the Lion Tamer's Trailer
Tonguing the Flute
Confessions of a Shoe Stalker

Cleaning lady came over at 8.30 this morning. She's locked me in the room with four boxes of herbal medicine, my dad's still bubble-wrapped paintings and some dusty paper bags... with the hint that *she* doesn't want to see any of these in the living room when she comes back next week. What's worse, she made me pay her afterwards. Help! I've been ambushed by Hitler's reincarnation!!! Someone offer me political asylum quick!

Teeheee... just kidding. She's a very nice, orderly person of the Mum-type.

Discovered that House is on tv tonight. Yay! Was rather aggrieved when they showed some boring soccer match in its place last week. I like Dr. House. He reminds me of my husband on his good days. I also like Adrian Monk. He reminds me of myself when I try to act sane and orderly.

O well. Back to the sandbox sonnets. Stayed up until 2 to get the first one done. Where I come up with these masochistic ideas I do not know.

Two poems in Eclectica

Have two poems in the October - November 2005 issue of Eclectica:

From the percolator (read)
On the Prospect of a New Lover (read)

Cleaning lady inspected the house, approved of the now respectable disorder and agreed to come regularly. Yay!

With this I officially end my house-cleaning strike and embark on a new life as a happily unemployed woman with irrationally bookish tendencies.

"Strange Days with Alzheimer's" in Lily

The October Issue of Lily is now up -- with poems by John Amen (with an interview, yay! I'm a fan), Uma Asopa, Adam Parez, Peter Schwartz, Tony Zurlo and yours truly.

Dusted more books, cleaned -- untidily -- the kitchen and bathroom sink today.

A good thing came of it though: I rediscovered my copy of "The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate" (no kidding) by Eugene Ehrlich. Bwaaaahaaahaaaah!!

I'm going to have some masochistic fun with word poems.